Validating each property before returning object - ios

Question

While using Mantle, is there a possibility to before returning the object we are creating (on this case via JSON) to verify that X and Y properties are not nil?
Imagine this class:
#interface Person : MTLModel <MTLJSONSerializing>
#property(nonatomic,strong,readonly)NSString *name;
#property(nonatomic,strong,readonly)NSString *age;
#end
I want a way to verify that if the JSON I received doesn't have the name (for some reason there was an issue on server's DB) I will return a nil Person, as it doesn't make sense to create that object without that property set.

Answer 1

Whilst you could override the initialiser. It seems more concise to override the validate: as this is called at the last stage before Mantle returns the deserialised object. Makes sense to put all your validation logic in a validate method...
See the final line of the MTLJSONAdapter
id model = [self.modelClass modelWithDictionary:dictionaryValue error:error];
return [model validate:error] ? model : nil;
This tells us that if our custom model returns NO from validate, then Mantle will discard the object.
So you could in your subclass simply perform the following:
- (BOOL)validate:(NSError **)error {
return [super validate:error] && self.name.length > 0;
}
Ideally in your own implementation you probably want to return an appropriate error.
The validate method will then call Foundation's validateValue:forKey:error: for every property that you registered with Mantle in JSONKeyPathsByPropertyKey. So if you want a more controlled validation setup you could also validate your data here..

Answer 2

You can use the MTLJSONSerializing protocol method classForParsingJSONDictionary: to return nil rather than an invalid object:
// In your MTLModelSubclass.m
//
+ (Class)classForParsingJSONDictionary:(NSDictionary *)JSONDictionary {
if (JSONDictionary[#"name"] == nil || JSONDictionary[#"age"] == nil) {
return nil;
}
return self.class;
}

Answer 3

In fact I don't use Mantle, but for validation I use another GitHub Library called RPJSONValidator
It tells you the type that you expect and what type the value has been arrived.
A simple example code
NSError *error;
[RPJSONValidator validateValuesFrom:json
withRequirements:#{
#"phoneNumber" : [RPValidatorPredicate.isString lengthIsGreaterThanOrEqualTo:#7],
#"name" : RPValidatorPredicate.isString,
#"age" : RPValidatorPredicate.isNumber.isOptional,
#"weight" : RPValidatorPredicate.isString,
#"ssn" : RPValidatorPredicate.isNull,
#"height" : RPValidatorPredicate.isString,
#"children" : RPValidatorPredicate.isArray,
#"parents" : [RPValidatorPredicate.isArray lengthIsGreaterThan:#1]
} error:&error];
if(error) {
NSLog(#"%#", [RPJSONValidator prettyStringGivenRPJSONValidatorError:error]);
} else {
NSLog(#"Woohoo, no errors!");
}
Each key-value pair describes requirements for each JSON value. For example, the key-value pair #"name" : RPValidatorPredicate.isString will place a requirement on the JSON value with key "name" to be an NSString. We can also chain requirements. For example, #"age" : RPValidatorPredicate.isNumber.isOptional will place a requirement on the value of "age" to be an NSNumber, but only if it exists in the JSON.

Answer 4

I use a very old version of Mantle. YMMV
You can override the [MTLModel modelWithExternalRepresentation] selector. Make sure to call [super modelWithExternalRepresentation] and then add your own code to check for validate data.

Answer 5

I followed a small issue opened on Mantle:
- (instancetype)initWithDictionary:(NSDictionary *)dictionaryValue error:(NSError *__autoreleasing *)error
{
BOOL isValid = NO;
if (self = [super initWithDictionary:dictionaryValue error:error])
{
isValid = ...
}
return isValid?self:nil;
}
So in the end just override:
- (instancetype)initWithDictionary:(NSDictionary *)dictionaryValue error:(NSError *__autoreleasing *)error